Cute Connor

The following are pictures of Connor throughout April. I can't help but love this little guy. He is truly a joy to be around! Now if I could just get him to sleep through the night and eat solid food. He will happily eat jarred baby food but refuses to eat anything with texture. He often gags and looks at me like I am trying to kill him when I feed him anything but baby food. I find this ironic because if he finds it on the floor inside or outside he will put it in his mouth and chew indefinitely on anything!

Here is proof that Connor does occasionally get a bath. He is such a good sport and puts up with showers most nights hanging out with whichever sibling is in the shower at the time. On this particular night he was enjoying gravity and seemed surprised every time the car hit the ground after he dropped it over the side of the tub :)

Because Connor is so mobile these days, his brothers and sister have taken to locking him out of their fun. Tucker and Hunter have master climbing up the walls so they scale the wall to get over the fence to get more toys when needed. Connor is not such a fan of this game because he realizes he is being left out of something!

Connor was rather upset about being trapped under this chair. I pulled out the camera and wah-lah He remembered how to crawl in hopes of getting a hold of the camera.

Seriously! I cannot get enough of this smile!! He continues to be such a joy in our lives!

And here is a picture of Brylee and Gunnar out in our front yard. I love all of our green grass!

Soccer Mom!

It finally happened...I was a soccer mom driving around in a mini-van and it wasn't as bad as I built it up in my head to be when I was so much younger! We tried out the city soccer program this spring and Tucker and Hunter had a blast! They both want to do it again in the fall. I enjoyed the season but was grateful when it was over and I got my weeknights and Saturdays back. I was better at getting Hunter to do his homework during those weeks than any other time during the year but I was worse at helping Tucker. The house seemed to fall apart and I rarely had any desire to clean it up Saturday afternoons after two soccer games. Dinners were tricky with practice for Tucker on Mondays from 5-6 and games on Tuesday for an hour starting at 4:30, 5:30, or 6:30 and then again on Thursday for Hunter with the same time options. There were some really cold games! It rained at only one game and thankfully Bryant was there and able to take the children to the van while I watched Hunter play. It was fun to see both boys learn the game and gain skills as the season progressed.

In the beginning, Tucker was a very defensive player. He would watch the ball as it was coming towards him and then back up indefinitely waiting for an opportunity to kick it towards the other side of the field. As the season progressed he learned to be a little more aggressive but always seemed to let the other kids take charge of the ball. In his final game he assisted another player in making 3 of the teams 5 goals. He was a little sad that he never actually scored a goal. Thankfully, this other teammate recognized Tucker's help and complimented him on his passing and help in making the goals. Tucker was great at staying in his position and working hard no matter where he was placed.

Here is a clip of Tucker at his first game.

Here are some additional videos of Tucker throughout the season

Here he assists in a goal

And some pictures of Tucker

Tucker usually played with a beanie, gloves or shirt on under his jersey. It was silly but it made it really easy to pick him out of all the kids

Hunter too was happy to wait for the ball to come to him as he played at his games. He was very concerned that there was no goalie in the kindergarten league like the 1st grade league and so he took it upon himself to watch the goal. He did not like to venture too far away just in case the ball came back across the short field and the other team scored. Hunter's team did not have a coach initially and non of the parents were willing to step up and coach. I had never played soccer before and had 4 other children with me at all the games by myself usually so I was certainly not eager to step forward. Thankfully, the girl on the team is in our ward and her mother warned her husband that he might have to coach the team. We had a lot of 4:30 games which was difficult for him because he had to leave work early to be with the team. I am very grateful for his willingness and ability to coach the team. Bryant was a little sad that his work schedule is not at all flexible so he could not have attempted to coach the team.

Here is Hunter at his first game. I learned that I am a bit of a screamer after my first two games and I'll let you know that I toned it down after that and found it fun to see that Bryant too likes to provide direction from the sidelines :) I told Hunter to get in front of the ball, and in so doing distracted him while in harms way and he got hit on the head :'(

Thankfully this did not ruin his season and he was able to go out and play hard the rest of the season. Here he is at one of his earlier games in the season.

Here are some additional clips of Hunter. If you still want more, come visit and ask to watch them because I have more :)

Here he is at his final game :)

I had to take a picture of him with his jersey on backwards :P Silly boy

Both boys got an awesome looking medal which they proudly hang on their walls. I'm so glad that they could both have such a good experience and have a desire to try again with the next season :)

Easter

We had a delightful Easter this year together. We originally thought my parents would be coming up but instead it was my Dad and brother Justin. They kept busy visiting with all the family around here and attending their mission reunions. We had our egg hunt in the backyard. Gunnar thought he needed to open each egg as he dropped it in his basket.

https://youtu.be/0qJG9nZyXf0

For whatever reason my children feel the need to "do" something while being recorded. They each wanted to be in a video and this is what we got. I can't stop laughing when I watch it. Brylee's continual need to "dance" while being recorded is just too delightful!

Bryant and Connor took a nap after the hunt :)

And I finally let my children decorate eggs for the first time in their lives! I had to limit them to 3 eggs each so that we didn't end up with a TON of eggs, especially since I am the only one that eats them

From the hunt, each child got a new puzzle and kite. I had them working on their puzzles during the afternoon session of conference. Note to self--Dollar Store 100 piece puzzles are trickier than normal puzzles because multiple pieces fit in the same spot so you can think you are doing it right only to find out that you have one in the wrong spot, which explains why you can't find the next piece to connect.

After 1 time with some help, Gunnar was able to figure out his own puzzle with little guidance. I was really impressed! Brylee really enjoyed her new puzzle. Next time I will have to get her more than 24 pieces so that it can be a bit of a challenge for her. 

We had beautiful kite flying weather the next day. I wasn't sure if it was kosher to fly kites in the cemetery or not but we did anyway because it was within walking distance. I learned that it is really hard to help 4 kids fly kites while keeping track of a baby all by myself. Thankfully, they all enjoyed it. 

And what do you do when you have a bunch of stickers to use, cover yourself in them of course ;)

March Happenings

I know it, I have not updated in FOREVER once again but you should really be used to that by now, right?

Here is Hunter posing with a stack of boxes he built. He is learning that he doesn't like having to clean up after the messes he makes in his bedroom but he sure does enjoy having lots of personal space to play in. 

Connor has figured out the crawling thing. However, he still can't roll from his back to his front. It is extremely convenient! He is unable to roll over during diaper changes and whenever I need him to stay put I lay him on his back and cast the spell "imobileous" just in case that is the only reason he hasn't figured out how to roll over. Once he is on his stomach though, he can go and do anything he desires, he can sit up or crawl. He wishes he could pull himself to a standing position but isn't quite there yet. 

Bryant took the boys to the Library's annual Big Guy Little Guy event. This year the theme was super heroes. Brylee was really sad that she could go to, but I didn't buy a ticket for her. I told her next year I will arrive at the library before it opens the day that the fairy tea tickets go on sale so that we can go to that event together. Apparently, some moms show up hours before the library opens to ensure they get tickets to their preferred day and time. I have heard the ticket purchasing comparable to black Friday shopping but for moms with young daughters. 

The boys had fun with Bryant. They both had soccer games and we had the ward Easter party the same day. Thankfully, this year there was pizza and juice to drink instead of hamburgers with ketchup and mustard in them!

This year I provided my help the school PTA for Teacher (Staff) appreciation week. The theme was "Hollywood" so I volunteered to make each staff member a walk of fame star. Thankfully, my neighbor helped cut out some of the stars after I had traced them. It took around 10 hours to make all 44 of them. I'm also glad that I am not a procrastinator because I think they turned out AWESOME thanks to my accomplishing a little at a time. (of course I was still gluing the finished stars to the black squares the night before we decorated the school but I wasn't up to an absurd hour, thanks to Bryant's help)

Here is a unique Brylee production featuring Gunnar. She made another of her twirling while holding the camera but it made me a little sick just watching so I thought I would save you all the trouble :)

The boys had their annual choir concert at school where each of the grades performs a song so the parents can see a little of what they are learning :)

Here is Hunter performing with all the Kindergartens: In Kindergarten they are learning about moving their voices and so they performed "Going on a Bear Hunt"

Here is Tucker performing with the 1st graders about fireflies so they turned off the lights for effect.

In first grade they also learned about listening to the music and interpreting what they hear. Here is Tucker interpreting a song with his friend Ryan copying his movements.